Photo credit:  NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – NOVEMBER 05: Reba McEntire performs onstage during Not That Fancy: An Evening With Reba & Friends at Ryman Auditorium on November 05, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for ABA)

 

On the latest episode of The Voice, which aired on Tuesday night (Dec. 5), Reba McEntire departed from her coaching role temporarily to demonstrate her musical prowess. Stepping away from guiding the contestants, McEntire took the spotlight to present a live rendition of her recent track, “Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

Throughout the current season of the singing competition, McEntire has been advising contestants to let their music speak for itself. Following her own guidance, she showcased the heartfelt lyrics from a fixed position on the stage, opting for the potency of vocals without relying on dance routines or special effects.

As the song reached its conclusion, the camera revealed a poignant black-and-white image of the singer’s late mother, Jacqueline, prominently displayed above the stage. Having lost her mother in March 2020, McEntire explained that she chose to record “Seven Minutes in Heaven” because it holds a personal connection to her.

The emotive performance resonated not only with McEntire’s fellow coaches, including John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and Niall Horan, but also with the audience. Immediately after leaving the stage, the coaches took a moment to congratulate McEntire, and the crowd responded with a spontaneous “Reba!” chant.

McEntire had released “Seven Minutes in Heaven” earlier in 2023. In the official music video for the poignant track, the Queen of Country pays tribute to her late mother. The video depicts McEntire enacting the lyrics, sitting in a “quiet corner booth,” ordering a beer, and patiently awaiting the arrival of the person she longs to see.

Eventually, a figure joins her at the booth, and although the person’s face remains unseen in the video, their silhouette and hairstyle unmistakably represent McEntire’s mother, Jacqueline, the poignant inspiration behind the heartfelt song.